120 Contributions from the Charleston Museum. 



to six winters may pass without a single specimen being seen. 

 My earliest autumn records are November 9, 1905, and Novem- 

 ber 10, 1S97. It is not possible to determine when the birds 

 depart in the spring as the tracts of broom grass are Ijurned to- 

 wards the end of February for pasturage, but I have taken spec- 

 imens on February 27, and am satisfied that many individuals 

 remain until April. 



The birds arrive in full autumnal plumage, but towards the 

 end of November the moult of the feathers of the head and throat 

 is begun, and is not complete in some individuals until January 

 15. I have observed this late autumnal moult in all species of 

 the genera Spinus, Pocecetes, Passerculus, PasseTherbulus, Ammo- 

 dramus, Zonotrichia, and Melospiza. 



Leconte's Sparrow breeds from Minnesota and Dakota to Man- 

 itoba and Assiniboia. 



206. Passerherbulus caudacutus (Gmel,). Sharp-tailed 

 Sparrow. 



Among the sparrows that inhabit the salt marshes exclusively 

 during the autumn, winter, and spring, this species is the common- 

 est. My earliest autumn record is September 23, and my latest 

 May 16; none, however, breed. This bird inhabits only the salt 

 marshes and feeds upon seeds during the autumn and winter. 

 It arrives in great numbers just as soon as the seeds of the salt 

 marsh ripen. In spring, however, it feeds upon a species of 

 maritime moth which frequents the salt marshes. To a great 

 extent it is a tide bird, like the other forms that inhabit the salt 

 marshes. Upon the advent of the spring tides these birds are 

 driven from the marshes and seek shelter among the grass and 

 bushes that border the shore, but as soon as the tide recedes, 

 they at once return to the marshes. 



Although Mr. Frank M. Chapman states in his Birds of East- 

 ern North America, that the Sharp-tailed Sparrow breeds in 

 South Carolina, this statement is an error. It may breed in 

 North Carolina, as it is known to breed from Virginia to New 

 Hampshire. 



207. Passerherbulus nelsoni (Allen) . Nelson's Sparrow. 



The first record of the occurrence of this species on the Atlan- 

 tic coast was based on specimens taken by the writer on October 



